We found Nemo

Cas tells me the word Nemo means "no one" in Latin. Other theories about the name of the cartoon fish have to do with Jules Verne and the relationship of the clownfish to sea anemones. If you peel off the front and back of the word anemone, you'll find Nemo there, as well.

Today, we went to Tivua Island on a large sailboat. The crew of happy Fijians took us from the port at Denaru to Tivua for the day. It's an island entirely based on tourism, where everyone comes on the same boat, all the food and drinks are free, and you can have as much fun as possible until you have to get back on the boat. Our worst problem was that we didn't want to get back on the boat. 

We started out with a ride around on a glass bottom boat. Our guide for that trip was a charismatic young man who walked across the glass panes and told corny jokes. The utility of the Fijian hospitality worker cannot be estimated by Western standards. Our Marine biologist was also part of our musical entertainment on the boat. He probably helped hoist a sail. These folks do all the jobs all the time, and they smile while doing all of them.

After the glass bottom boat, Cas and I went snorkeling. Between those two activities, we saw more coral with fewer distractions then we may have seen in Cairns. Sure, the great barrier reef is in fact great, but this coral had the advantage of a smaller population examining it. In fact, Cas and I stayed out snorkeling until we were called in for lunch.

The lunch was fantastic, and after lunch we took a turn at stand up paddleboarding. Henceforth, I shall refer to this as fall down paddleboarding. As it turns out, I am not so great at paddleboarding. When that activity proved to be short-lived, we took a hand at the two-person kayak. 

We decided at that point to finish up with the kayak and simply flop around in the water for a while. It was just too pretty to walk away. 

Honestly, the only reason we got out of the water was that Li, our guide for the day came to tell us it was last call. Time for one final beer and glass of wine. We got out of the water, washed off the salt and made a last order at the bar. After that, we went back to the pier and got back on the boat. It was absolutely the most gorgeous place we had never spent time. The people on the boat with us agreed that the worst part of the whole day was that we had to leave.

In fact, we have to leave the entire country of Fiji tomorrow. Our flight to Los Angeles departs after nine pm local time. At that point, we will be on a plane for 10 hours and 45 minutes. And that's just to get to Los Angeles. This has been remarkable. I can't believe that the last time I slept on my own pillow was the night of Independence Day. 

Cas and I are contemplating a ride on something called the Bula Bus so we can go have dinner at the harbor we just came from. After that, who knows where the night will take us. Probably, the night will take us to sleep very soon. It's been a big day. Here is a photograph of Tivua Island as we approached on our sailboat.